Cylindrical rolls of web material, such as rolls of metal foil, food wrap plastic film, gift wrap paper, paper towels sold for home consumption necessarily have one end of the web material exposed on the outside of the roll. The exposed end of the web material must be secured to the roll to prevent the roll from unwinding during shipping and handling.
One conventional method of securing the end of the web material to the roll places an adhesive material between the exposed end of the web material and the underlying roll. Another method of securing the exposed end of the web material to the roll is apply a small piece of adhesive tape over the exposed end of the material to secure it to the underlying roll.
These methods of securing the material against unwinding present problems for both the manufacturer and the user. In high speed roll winding it is difficult to place an adhesive or tape accurately on a moving roll in exactly the correct position on the roll to secure the free end of the web material to the roll. Additionally, the strength with which the tape or glue adheres to the web material may cause damage to the underlying wrap of web material when the free end is pulled from the roll and the bond is broken. This damage makes the end of the web material unusable.
An additional conventional method of securing the exposed end of web material uses an adhesive string wrapped around the roll with the ends of the string extending to the ends of the roll. In order to remove the string it is necessary to grip an end of the string at one end of the roll. Gripping of the end of the string may injure the edge of the underlying web material.